Tech News: SocialSafe Takes the Lead in Social Media Archiving Race

Plus: End-of-year round-ups and let's all look back and laugh at Apple Maps.

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MINYANVILLE ORIGINALThis column brings you the most interesting and useful business and financial commentary on technology. Happy holidays, and let's get to it!

TechCrunchLink: SocialSafe Raises $400K to Out-Archive Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
"SocialSafe, the social media back-up tool co-founded by Julian Ranger's iBundle and 1minus1, has announced that it's raised £250,000 (~$400k) in what's being called a Series A round. That's because Ranger, who is a prominent angel investor in the UK, has already funded the startup to the tune of £300k, bringing the total raised by SocialSafe to £550k (~$885k).

"SocialSafe is a Mac/Windows app built using Adobe Air which lets users download and back-up their content from social media accounts, with support for Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Google+ (NASDAQ:GOOG), Instagram, LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD), Twitter, and Viadeo. The resulting archive is then searchable or can be browsed via a handy calendar view."

"Apple Maps sent us driving straight into the desert instead of our intended town. Security fail after security fail left us scrambling to change our passwords and keep our digital identities secure. And stunning, colorful industrial design couldn't save Nokia (NYSE:NOK) from another dismal year of finances. Gadget Lab collected this year's most splendidly horrendous products and events and rounded them up for you to groan over."

"The project has now been funded by over 2,500 backers, who have pledged more than the £40,000 ($65,000) goal. Yet there are still five days left, meaning the project could hit £45,000 or may be even £50,000 ($81,000)."

"It reported other bad news as well, a month before introducing its new BlackBerry 10 phones to the public. Revenue fell 48% in the company's fiscal third quarter, which ended Dec. 1, to $2.7 billion from $5.2 billion a year earlier. RIM's shares fell about 9% in after-hours trading. Before RIM's announcement, shares closed at $14.12, up for the day by 3.6%."